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DEBORAH’S MUSIC HELPED MZANSI SEE THE LIGHT! PAGE 5
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LOADSHEDDING HAS BECOME THE NORM; NOW BRACE YOURSELVES FOR WATER SHEDDING Is SA on the verge of water shedding? Photo By Nic Bothma/EPA-EFE
By Mbangwa Xaba
W
ater covers 70% of our planet, and it is easy to think that it will always be plentiful. However, freshwater – the stuff we drink, bathe in, irrigate farms with– is becoming scarce. Many of the water systems that keep ecosystems thriving and quench the thirst of a growing population have become stressed. Rivers and other sources of water are drying up or becoming too polluted to use. Now, government is worried about the possibility of water-shed-
ding in some parts of the country. This, as ancient and poorly maintained municipal infrastructure collapses. This has already led to violent protests in some communities that cannot access water. Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) spokesperson Sputnik Ratau told The Telegram: “If we all (government and municipalities) do the right things, this could be averted, but as things stand, anything (including water shedding) is possible. “We’re not envisaging water-shedding in the future. There’s a whole lot of planning toward water security, accompanied by infrastructure development and work that’s
underway. “New infrastructure in areas like the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II is currently underway. There are water supply augmentation projects in all provinces. “What is also important is to raise the level of operations and maintenance throughout the water value chain,” he said. Last week, the town of Musina in Limpopo experienced complete shut down as protesters took to the streets demanding water supply. Ratau said infrastructure failure at municipal level was a sore point throughout the country. “National government will work with municipalities to deal with the
issue including drawing in private sector expertise. What is important is to know where these occur then address them, the DWS, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), especially through Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (Misa) will co-operate with municipalities in this regard as well as ensuring infrastructure expenditure is also ring-fenced,” he said. Meanwhile, police in Nyalas had to use rubber bullets to calm violent protests in Musina as schools and shops were closed and protesters blocked the streets. Residents, who demanded answers from the Vhembe District Municipality Executive Mayor Nen-
guda Dowelani, were furious when the mayor sent Municipal Manager Tshimangadzo Ndou, instead. They claimed Ndou would not leave the police Nyala to speak to them and demanded that all residents who gathered at a community hall be searched for dangerous weapons before she addressed them. “It is surprising that the municipal manager wants us searched before addressing the residents but when we voted authorities into power, they never requested that we be searched,” said one protester, who wished to remain anonymous.
Story Continues on Page 2
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Emily Baloyi of Mushongo Villa in Musina, had this furrow built to direct overflowing sewage away from her yard. Photo by www.groundup.org.za
Story Continues from Page 1 These protests by the people of Musina, in the Vhembe District, mirror the anger of the people of Sekhukhune, in Polokwane and Giyane. As exasperation has ignited this widespread anger and violent protests, high levels of frustration are escalating in two others provinces. The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality in the EC is struggling to contain leaks as the water infrastructure
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leaks water in most parts of the area, especially in Motherwell. A resident said this leak has been going for two months. In NU9, Motherwell, water is gushing out of a house, flooding and creating a large puddle of water at the entrance of the house. Bongani Makhubele, who lives in the area, says the water comes from a burst pipe and flows down the street before it enters a drain. The stream that has been created is about two kilometres. “This is clean water and is being wasted,” Makhubelo said. In Gauteng, affluent has been pumped into the Vaal River by the Sedibeng Municipality for some time, because the municipality’s water treatment plants simply cannot cope. Residents and environmental organisations are fuming about the pollution of the river. The Vaal River, a source of water for about 19-million South Africans, is now polluted “beyond acceptable levels”, impacting on natural ecosystems and endangering people’s health. This is according to a new report by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), released on Wednesday, that looks into the Vaal River’s sewage problem. Kilolitres of untreated sewage now flow into the Vaal as a result of “dilapidated” wastewater treatment plants that unable to process raw sewage, the inquiry found. “The consequence is that the pollution is impacting natural ecosystems directly dependent on the water in and from the Vaal,” the report stated. The commission found that the fact that raw sewage had flown into the river for at least five years was a violation of a number of constitutional rights, including the constitutional right to human dignity and an environment that is not harmful to health or well-being. Broken promises, a lack of political will and a desperate shortage of government money mean there is little hope the Vaal River’s sewage pollution crisis will end any time soon. “There is no end in sight to the Vaal sewage pollution crisis, just a long trail of broken promises, a lack of political will and a lack of government funding for the repairs to the Emfuleni wastewater treatment system,” Save the Vaal Environment chair Maureen Stewart told the Sunday Times. In March last year, DWS promised to “expedite a strategic intervention scheme to significantly minimise the impact of raw sewerage seeping into the Vaal River and its tributaries
Severe pollution of the Vaal River with raw sewage flowing daily into the river and its tributaries has set off an ecological disaster.
Sputnik Ratau says government is concerned about the country’s state of sanitation. Photo by Sarah Koning/ sandtonchronicle.co.za in the Southern Gauteng Region.” Ratau has made the same promises once again. “This is a national project. The DWS is using Rand Water as the
Implementing Agent to resolve this national Achilles heel. Work is underway to do unblocking of the lines, work will also be done at the dysfunctional pump
stations and wastewater treatment plants. “This is a tedious assignment which will take time. As the department and Rand Water, our focus is on resolving all the challenges,” said Ratau. He said in the meantime the municipality will have to ensure that the reticulation infrastructure is also brought up to scratch, adding that the DWS, the Gauteng provincial government and other departments were supporting the municipality. According to Ratau, government is concerned about the country’s state of sanitation. This was because access to dignified sanitation still lags access to water, which is a global phenomenon. “What is important is for South Africa is to embrace new technologies that are coming into the sector. This will enhance delivery,” he said. “The department continues to work together with municipalities to raise the level of access. Availability of bulk water in areas still not served will also ensure delivery because it’s important to ensure wastewater services are also in place.” He said the government was cooperating and working closely with the commission’s recommendations. ● Additional reporting by Groundup.org.za
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news: VBS LIQUIDATORS GUN FOR VENDA KING The liquidators of VBS Mutual Bank applied for a writ of execution at the Johannesburg High Court last month to recoup more than R10 million allegedly owned by a family trust whose sole trustees are Venda King Toni Mphephu Ramabulana and Portia Mphephu.
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PASTOR LUKAU’S R50M RENTAL
SCANDAL
PAY UP Alleluia Ministries International in Kramerville, Sandton. The church defended pastor Alph Lukau (inset) after he performed the so-called miracle resurrection of Elliot Moyo in 2019 PHOTO: LUBA LESOLLE / GALLO IMAGES
Companies linked to the controversial megachurch preacher evade debt collection as he and his business associates are said to be in Portugal
MDUDUZIMember NONYANE Michael Sun cuts the ribbon at the launch of a recycling “depot”. Next to Sun is Joyline Josamu the CEO of the company that runs Mayco mduduzi.nonyane@citypress.co.za the depot. Despite extensive efforts we have been unable to find any evidence the depot exists. (Photo from Sun’s Twitter account)
“The guard, who refused to provide me with his name, did not allow me access but told me to wait. He disappeared into the guard hut on the property and echnology distribution and warehousing spoke to this supervisor, who came out to speak to me. giant Tarsus Shared Services is battling to “After explaining the purpose of my visit and the recover a R50 million deficit allegedly documentation that I had with me, the supervisor also owed by controversial pastor Alph Lukau refused to provide me access. and several of his business associates. “Similarly, he refused to provide me with his name. I The matter relates to a cancelled lease could see that he had been speaking to someone over evicted from the premises early securities and/or members’ and agreement pertaining to the premises of Alleluia his cellular phone from time to time ... After seeing the last year because it could no directors’ registers follows multiple Ministries International in Sandton, Johannesburg. letters attached to the gate, the supervisor said that I longer meet the R1 million monthly requests for access, and is such a The company lodged a court application this week at should come [back] the next day,” they say. rental fee. clear interference with an the Johannesburg High Court, flagging three companies Lukau shot to fame over the past two years by The company instituted, among unconditional statutory right. The linked to Lukau for failing to declare their company performing so-called miracles during his church services, other things, arbitration applicant requests that a punitive security registers in their arbitration process as including when he publicly “resurrected” a man. proceedings in which it claimed: cost award be made against each of prescribed by the Companies Act, citing that the Lukau claimed that the man, Elliot Moyo, had died . Arrear rentals and charges up the respondents.” information sought would enable it to track the intricate and the latter’s body was brought to the pastor by his ACCORDING TO ARBITRATION to the date it cancelled the The applicants say this refusal has web of companies that operate the church in South family a few days later. DOCUMENTS, TARSUS SHARED sublease; put a strain on the arbitration Africa and throughout Africa. The incident angered some within the religious SERVICES HAS BEEN TRYING . Damages for the period the process, further delaying the The court papers also indicate that attempts to serve community, who called for Lukau to be investigated by TO RECOVER THE DEBT defendant was in occupation after recovery of debts. Lukau and a close business partner, identified as John the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the SINCE MARCH 2018, LEADING the cancellation; They further highlighted that their Ferguson, with a summons have failed, as they have Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities TO THE PERIOD . Future loss of rentals and legal representative visited Lukau’s allegedly taken up residence in Portugal and refuse to after a video of his purported resurrection of Moyo went and in her relatives and associ-viral. November 2014 to September 2015. rank. Beyond that Sun tweeted. “This is a calculated facility from where WHENtaxi THE CHURCH WAS charges the dateIvory Park known placeShe of business June, accept service through legal counsel. EVICTED FROM THE PREMISES Maru claims tothat have raised milates are linked to a syndicate of sev- It also Sun doesn’t have an address waste reclaimers the will be empowered defendant ceased to occupy MMC but the representative was denied They emphasise that “the appellant requires the emerged in 2019 Lukau’s churchR14 members EARLY LAST YEAR, the premises as a church until the entry. information in the registers in order to unravel the regarded him as being similar to Jesus, proclaiming that eral non-profit companies awarded lion in a partnership with Resource for the facility.” and no longer have to travel tens of or location AFTER WHICH IT COULD NO expiry date of the sublease; and “The premises has access control relationship between Lukau and Ferguson, and the he was crucified for helping to heal others. more than R14 million in funds from Africa for Enterprise Development km to sell their reclaimed materials.” LONGER MEET THE R1 MILLION . Restoration of the premises. and requires a security guard to respondents [King Vision Holdings, Alph Lukau Group The applicant’s lawyer, Andrew Scarrott of AB Scarrott for communities around the Kruger the I National Lotteries CommissionAttorneys, “As-and-when” tenders But a several day search by MONTHLY RENTAL FEE The proceedings also reveal that allow access. spoke to the security and Al Resident Holdings] to recover the debts due by declined to comment. recycling depot “launched” National Park. 2014 to I2016. over a 12-month period, GroundUp Maru was one of a dozen nonGroundUp for Maru’s depot was church leaders, including Lukau, guard on duty and asked that I be Lukau and Ferguson”. “I have received your enquiry, [but] have noIt also non-profit company have blatantly refused to grant the applicants access to allowed into the property in order to deliver the request Accordingby to itsaarbitration documents, Tarsus Shared unsuccessful. Efforts instructions to make any comment at this time,” he said. claims to have raised R18 million to get Sun and profit companies awarded one year has previously revealed. pertaining to company directors. to the respondents to inspect the securities and/or Services haswhich been trying to recover the debt since Efforts to source comment from Lukau and the has a contract withMarchJosamu to explaininformation Companies and Intellectual Prop- between 2012-2014, with the Sabi where it was, came “as-and-when” street cleaning ten“As the refusal to allow access to the respondents’ member registers of the respondents. 2018, relating to the period when the churchcomwas companies were unsuccessful. Johannesburg’s waste
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PIKITUP, THE PASTOR AND M R1 THE LOST RECYCLING DEPOT
By Ezekiel Kekana and Raymond Joseph
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ders by Pikitup in 2020, providing erty Commission (CIPC) records Sand game reserve and University of to nothing. pany Pikitup does not exist. The Recycling depots and waste pick- a service when required by the City. revealed that seven of the eight Johannesburg to capacitate commudepot, supposedly set up by non- ers operating in the area said they Maru’s tender covered Ivory Park. grants to the syndicate involving nities living around Sabi Sand Game profit company Maru Ciberconnect, had never heard of the new depot. Pikitup, which awarded the ten- Josamu were awarded within months Reserve and Kruger National Park a beneficiary of Lottery money, was Even workers at Pikitup in Ivory Park der, did not answer a question as to of the purchase of shelf companies and link them to business opportuopened with fanfare by Johannes- said they did not know where the how much Maru earned from the and the registration of new directors nities within the protected areas. burg Mayco member Michael Sun depot is. However, none of those projects in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 financial contract. in March. But Maru CEO Joyline Segapo’s after the designer allegedly JULIA MADIBOGO BUSINESS gets a mention on Maru’s Twitter years. Sun was at pains attach to point outassets that Josamu told GroundUp the depot IS SLOW moved out of his place of business. julia.madibogo@citypress.co.za Josamu admits that the depot is not is situated “between” the Ivory Park he was only appointed A Special Investigating Unit (SIU) or Facebook page, which mainly to the MayFashion Segapo, who has styled celebrities including Idols SA operational and does not even have involve clean-up events projects. source told GroundUp that these oral Committee after the tender designer Businessperson Kabelo Ncholo has accused celebrity taxi rank and Busy Corner, a local producer and host was ProVerb, award-winning musician an address yet. fashion designer Paledi Segapo of reneging on a Kaybee, veteran actorgrants Warren Masemola and US Maru also lists South African are currently beingPaledi invesmerely attended landmark. But “weIN do not have a awarded and had Prince THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT, WHICH Maru’s “new” the Ivory Park into depot says repayment arrangement pair entered out of physical address,” she singer Tevin Campbell, was hired by Ncholo in 2018 toof a Segapo National Parks, The National Herittigated in terms presidential the event in his official capacity. He said. CITY PRESS HAS SEEN AND WHICH IS DATED his business court after the latter allegedlyto failed to deliver the design attire for his wedding, which was scheduled to project, supposedly benefit poor age Council, Vukani Agri, and Afriproclamation authorising the SIU said that he did not have the authorIn a telephone interview, she said NOVEMBER 2020, THE SEASONED DESIGNER has been wedding-related items that Ncholo had ordered and take place in 2019 at Sun City, North West. waste pickers in Ivory Park, was AGREED TO PAY BACK ABOUT R300 000 TO can Farmers’ Association of South to probe corruption involving the ity to investigate the tender awarded the depot was not yet operational affected by paid for. The wedding did not take place that year and Ncholo NCHOLO BY THE END OF NOVEMBER launched by Sun at an event to mark Covid-19 Ncholo dragged Segapo to the Johannesburg High year after obtaining the Africa as some of its working “partand she was “busy fundraising” for to Maru by Pikitup.got married in November lastLottery. World Recycling Daypayments on 18 he March. PHOTO: OUPA Court in an effort to recoup made to the money to open it. services of other designers. ners” (funders) on their website. But Maru is involved in “arts, heritage BOPAPE/ seasoned designer agreed to pay back about R300 000 Palse fashion label owner for his According to Ncholo, the popular designer was also On Twitter therewhile is apreparing photograph absent from the list of “partners” is and culture”, “wildlife economy” Joyline Josamu and the Lottery “We are not working at the GALLO IMAGES to Ncholo by the end of November. wedding. set to arrange a team that was meant to include a of Sun cutting a ribbon at what is the National Lotteries Commission, and “training and development”, Maru Ciberconnect had been in moment, we are “The just defendant raisingshall some pay the plaintiff an amount of Segapo was scheduled to appear at the Randburg wedding planner, a photographer, a hair and make-up supposedly the depot. a full and final settlement of the dispute, Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday on a separate criminal funds, so that weR297 artist, and a booking for a segment in the lifestyle a breach of its grants policy that according to its website. existence for several years when can000 be in buying their Several senior [an offer] the plaintiff accepts on the terms and Lottery charge of fraud for the same Pikitup transaction. staff, televisionfunding programmeof Top Billing. Most of the projects listed are beneficiaries acknowledge this. it was awarded work (recyclers). We relywhich on funding, contained herein,” reads the settlement. That matter was placed on the roll, however, To secure his services, Segapo reportedly requested a including thenotorganisation’s man- dueso when we get conditions It says on its website: “Maru financial several years old, with some dating the funds, then we R3,358,218 in the 2018-19 The conditions were that Segapo had to make the to the out-of-court settlement agreement that the pair R150 000 deposit of the R300 000 he had charged the aging director Bukelwa Njingolo also believes that the promotion of arts, back to 2012, 2013 and 2014. year. at least collect and we are able first payment of R118 500to by the end of March, and the reached. businessperson for his suit, his bride’s gown and attire attended the “launch” and Pikitother collected payments were to be made inThe R20 000 monthly arefor National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi pay those who have the entireJosamu, bridal party. One of the most current projects heritage and culture is important in directors Joyline waste. up’s officialconfirmed Twitterthat account until the enddo of November. Covid-19 – day not sosociety that he could Mjonondwane the mattertweeted was “not However,and SegapoPreallegedlyspotlighted only created outfits the Maru website isdue to modern andavoid canmaking lead to onforthe a relative, Isaac Lutere, When we do notinstalments have funds, we Segapo was also asked to pay Ncholo’s R30 000 legal payment to Ncholo. placed on the roll, pending consultation with the bride and the bridesmaids. enthusiastically about the “new facilsocial cohesion and national buildfor an event in 2018 in Qunu in the cious Buthelezi. Her husband, Isaac not open,” Josamu said. costs on or before December 31 this year. “Why would I discontinue my businesses while I complainant”. The settlement letter states that failure by the ity”. ing.” Eastern Cape, celebrating the centeJosamu, is a former director of the Sun’s spokesperson Nickolaus However, says Ncholo, Segapo has only paid R85 000 have to [conduct] business? I am not the first person to Ncholo first opened a civil case against Segapo in seasoned designer to pay what is due to Ncholo per “It was a great to ofjoin far and is expected to pay company, R45 000 by thewhich end of was close their store at the appears moment because are going April 2019 and then openedprivilege a criminal case fraud Bauer said: “Sun thus the first settlement agreement will triggerofpursuit of a Mandela’s birth. Josamu to webe very nary Nelson registered along with Pikitup hands with ouryear partners the this month or Ncholo will movein to obtain a judgment a difficult time. in August of the same to push theand latter to pay officials was taken good at raising money. What she Maru also lists its participation “asthrough 2011. Josamu iscivil a case. pastor in the to this location him. “What they are doing is making me look like I am a him back. Yesterday, Segapo said he couldn’t comment as the community to open the Maru recy- in Ivory Park byagainst spends it on is much less clear. Chris an enterprise development special-thug members of Maru. church of wealthy televangelist But the businessperson says he is scared that, even if on the run when the truth is that I could not In the settlement agreement, which City Press has matter was sub judice. cling centre in Ivory Park today,” It was a 15 minute drive from the Oyakhilome. – groundup.org.za ist” in a Jozi@work programme in he obtains a judgment, there might be no way to afford to pay rent,” he said. seen and which is dated November 2020, the However, he said his store in Newtown was closed
TOP FASHION GURU MUST PAY BACK THE MONEY
R300 000
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NO MONEY TO PAY YOU, APARTHEID SURVIVORS ARE TOLD
Occupiers outside the Constitutional Court make their demands for apartheid reparations. Photo by Dennis Webster
By Dennis Webster and Sazi Bongwe
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n occupation of the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, looks set to continue after survivors of apartheid crimes and Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola failed to reach an understanding on 10 May regarding the payment of reparations. The more than 70 survivors, who are members of the Khulumani Support Group, a non-governmental organisation advocating for the redress of apartheid crimes, have been sleeping rough since they first occupied the steps of South Africa’s apex court in late April. Both Lamola and his deputy, John Jeffery, apologised for the conditions under which they had kept the occupiers waiting. Many of the mostly elderly occupiers have fallen ill while sleeping in the cold on pieces of cardboard outside the court. Speaking in isiZulu, Lamola said: “This is the first chance we have had [to meet with you] because you did not give us notice, you just arrived. We’re sorry for the 13 days you have been sleeping here, but it was out of our hands. It wasn’t our aim for you to all sit here for 13 days in winter, so we are very sorry for that. We know it’s not an easy thing, especially for older people. Me, myself, I wouldn’t survive here.” But apologies notwithstanding, the occupiers and Lamola’s department appear no nearer to an agreement on how outstanding Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
Activists demanding reparations for apartheid crimes finally met with the justice minister, who informed them that the TRC list of beneficiaries will not be expanded. reparations should be managed. Their continued disagreement has exposed the fraught and festering legacy of the commission. Lamola would not commit to funds being used to pay for anything other than their current uses – primarily the education of the children of some victims of human rights abuses under apartheid. “I’m sorry for that, but it is beyond what the government is able to do. It is out of our hands … I can’t commit to paying money into your accounts. It would be a lie.” In an interview, Lamola called the occupiers’ demands that they be paid reparations directly “impractical”. “We must be frank with them,” he said. “No other money will be paid.”
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola addresses the occupiers outside the Constitutional Court. Photo by Dennis Webster
Blame the TRC Lamola and Jeffery stressed that the TRC was responsible for the limited number of reparations beneficiaries. Yasmin Sooka, former member of the commission and a leading transitional justice expert, recently said that realising the promise of the TRC depended on Lamola’s department extending the list of beneficiaries. The occupiers said Lamola and Jeffery’s blaming the TRC process failed to account for the commission’s own flaws. Dineo Makhura*, whose brother was abducted by a gang coordinated by the apartheid police before he was brutally murdered, said “people still had bullets in their bodies” at the time the TRC’s enquiries were ended.
“How is it that the TRC closed when people were still injured?” she asked. “How is it that the TRC closed before everybody was given what they needed? You’re talking about a closed list when children in our communities haven’t been able to go to school.” “You’re treating that money like you own that money,” added Thabo Shabangu. “You don’t own that money. It belongs to us.” The money Shabangu was referring to is the President’s Fund, which regularly receives a clean audit and has nearly R2 billion in total net assets, according to its most recent annual report. “We can assure you that that money has not been stolen,” Jeffery told the occupiers, explaining that the funds were being kept aside for the reparations of two communities per province. “The money that’s left is only enough for two per province,” he added. The occupiers – who have come to Braamfontein from the far reaches of Limpopo, Cape Town, Pretoria, Gauteng’s East Rand, Queenstown in the Eastern Cape – look set to remain on the steps of the court. A grandmother from Cradock explained that “then we were fighting for freedom; now we are fighting for relief … We have a different kind of blood. When we bleed, it isn’t red.” She and her fellow occupiers are now demanding that President Cyril Ramaphosa address their demands in person. *Not her real name. ● This article was first published by New Frame.
TRIBUTE
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DEBORAH’S MUSIC HELPED MZANSI SEE THE LIGHT! By Staff Reporter
D
eborah Fraser’s music was the moonlight in the ominous night of life. She sang gospel music with passion, love and deep honesty, which nourished the souls and healed the wounded hearts of millions of fans. Her uniquely velvety voice made her music a reward to the hopeless. Her great hits, Imvuselelo, Dila Nabo Nkosi, Abanye Bayombona and Hamba Sathane serve as a testament that her music was meant to send light into the darkness of human hearts - such was the duty of Fraser. In an interview with sowetanlive. co.za, Cultural and Creative Industries of SA president, Joy Mbewana, said: “Deborah was a talented artist and we are not going to hear that velvet voice again. She had her own unique voice. She was kind-hearted and always willing to help people. “She was concerned that many artists were struggling and not making any income.” Struggle with diabetes Deborah, who was 56, had not been well for almost a week, according to those who were close to her. She is said to have been struggling with diabetes for years. In February, she spent some time at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. When she pulled through the severe diabetic attack, Deborah was confined to a wheelchair as she could no longer walk. She also had to cope with night blindness and at times, dizziness. Mbewana told sowetanlive.co.za: “After she came out
of hospital early in April, the Silapha Wellness programme organised a psychologist for her and she told me she wanted to go with me to those sessions. She wanted to get better so she can start working. But things got worse last week when she suffered a stroke. “I am hurt because she wanted to share her experience as a woman in the music industry with young artists.” Early life Deborah, who was born in Durban’s KwaMashu township in 1966, finished her Grade 12 at the famous Ohlange High School, founded by publisher and philosopher John Langalibalele Dube. “I was taught by UN official Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka at school. Singer Tu Nokwe studied there and Thoko Didiza all attended my school, so I was destined to be on the list of great artists to change music,” she told Drum magazine. She also told the publication that she had been making music for as long as she could remember. “I grew up singing and came to Joburg in 1984 as a back-up vocalist for local and international artists such as Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa, Black Mambazo, Lucky Dube and Brenda Fassie, among others.” After working as a backing vocalist, Deborah was signed by Universal Music. Her debut album, Abanye Bayombona, released in 2000, sold millions of copies. The rest, as the adage goes, is history. Accolades Over the years, she was acknowledged and rewarded for her talent.
She won the inaugural SABC Crown Gospel Music award in the Best Female Artist category, the South African Music Award for Best Gospel, Metro award for Best Gospel, and Kora for Best Gospel artist, among other awards. In 2021 the singer was honoured with a Doctor of Philosophy in Sacred Music by the Christian Leadership Academy. Although the honour came as a complete surprise to her, she was ecstatic to be among African Gospel singers who had made a positive contribution to the genre and touching many lives. She said, at the time: “I feel that my contribution to the music has not been in vain. I am humbled, it is a true honour.” Deborah went on to write: “My journey is not defined by the number of albums I have. It is not defined by the number of accolades I have received. It is a journey of thousands of miles experienced with so much love from my supporters and fans. “It is defined through the millions of souls that I have reached and touched out there with this everlasting gift that God gave me. It is defined through lives I have saved and changed through the language of music. It has been a tedious journey with lows and highs. “However, to God Almighty, Father, I wouldn’t have made it without your grace and love. You have always been the pillar of my strength through the darkest moments of my faith being shaken. Such an honour it is to be called Dr Deborah Fraser.” Deborah’s music has touched the souls of millions and will become a kind of spirit, that will never die.
Gospel star Deborah Fraser was described as “Mother Teresa” and often opened her arms and home to all in need.
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Some of the boys being taught basic life skills. Photo by Kelebogile Xaba
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By Staff Reporters
M
ay 16 is International Day of the Boy Child. It was founded in 2018 by Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, a university lecturer from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It focuses on boys, their well-being and their needs to feel happy, healthy and valued within the family and the community. In a founding proposal letter to government leaders and NGOs, Teelucksingh said: “On the media, there are regular incidents in which young, misguided boys and teenagers are involved in crime and violence. If a boy child is neglected or fed a diet of hate and violence it is obvious, he will develop into a teenager who is misguided and confused. “There is an urgent need to focus on the home and school in order to save the boy child.” He says boys are socialised to equate strength and masculinity with suppressing their natural and spontaneous reaction to pain, disappointment and rejection - not asking for help and shunning vulnerability. In actuality, vulnerability is about strength – it is about standing in front of another soul spiritually, psychologically and emotionally naked. Many of these children are suicidal, slowly descending into the deep dark
abyss of depression and consumed by low self-esteem and repressed emotions. “Of the 7.6 billion people in the world, about 4 billion are males and over 1 billion are boys under the age of 15. Boys are more than a mere extension of ourselves. These children represent our heritage and serve as one of the links to the past and the present that intersects with the future of our families, our communities, and our world,” the World Boy Child Day said in a statement. The organisation says boys are born with irrepressible enthusiasm, insatiable curiosity, a natural and spontaneous reaction to disappointment, rejection, failure and spiritual, physical psychological and emotional pain and a pristine view of the world. They are fragile and vulnerable.
Learning first aid skills. Photo by Kelebogile Xaba
Somewhere along the journey from boyhood to manhood, boys are socialised not to express the natural and spontaneous reactions to spiritual, physical, emotional and psychological pain, disappointment and rejection. “The boy child of the 21st century is faced with tremendous challenges which, unless properly guarded, the society is losing him,” said John Koskey. The boy child has been neglected. This leaves him irrelevant and in a dilemma. The Gauteng Department of Social Development has stepped up to change this situation. In partnership with Scouts South Africa (SSA), it launched the provincial Boy Child Project at the Arrow Park in Benoni on Sunday, 15 May. This formed part its World Boy
Child Day celebrations. About 200 young boys attended the launch and were treated to lots of fun and skills training workshops. Among others, boys were thought basic first aid, dealing with wildlife, survival skills and many other life skills. The department said this initiative is aimed at developing young boys to achieve their full potential as individuals and responsible citizens. This is in line with its Men and Boys Programmes that focus on investing in boys’ and men’s empowerment. The department uses these programmes as part of its efforts to combat the rampant scourge of gender-based violence. Social Development MEC Morakane Mosupye, a former Girl Scout, was ecstatic with
the partnership with Scouts South Africa. She said scouts were ideal partners because of their proven track record. “Scouts have programmes that instil discipline in young boys, who ultimately become agents of change in society. This is an ideal platform for the department’s Boy Child Programme to realise its mission and vision. “This partnership will benefit young boys across the province as it will provide mentorship for boy children on different issues such as behavioural change, emotional intelligence and spiritual upliftment. “It will also ensure that there are comprehensive and sustainable programmes that respond to challenges that are faced by boy children through empowerment and mentorship. We wish to have at least 5000 boys as part of this programme in the next five years,” Mosupye said. Research and media reports indicate that, left to their own devices, many boys drop out of school, engage in violent behaviour and unsafe sex, or practice other risky behaviours because this is what they believe they have to do to be regarded as “real men” by their friends and communities. Boys find it difficult to speak out against sexual abuse and exploitation because of stereotypical definitions of masculinity and deep-rooted homophobia.
Social Development Men’s Forum, department executive management and Scouts SA leadership. Photo by Kelebogile Xaba
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FRIDAY, MAY 20/ JUNE 2
NEWS
COLLECTIVE EFFORTS NEEDED TO END GBVF GBV is rooted in gender inequality, both reflecting and reinforcing inequities between women and men By Ndivhuwo Mukwevho
G
ender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) is a profound and widespread problem in South Africa. Given the ferocious nature of this ‘pandemic’, collective efforts are needed to end this scourge of violence against mostly women and children. Director-General at the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disability, Mikateko Maluleke, said government alone cannot win this fight. “Gender-based violence is a challenge. However, we are not going to throw in the towel. We need to ensure that we work together to end GBV for the sake of our children. GBV is a serious challenge but it is not the challenge for government departments only,” said Maluleke, during the launch of the GBVF-NSP (National Strategic Plan) 100-Day Challenge. GBVF-free municipalities The GBVF-NSP 100-Day Challenge is a programme designed to end GBV and femicide in South Africa at municipal level. Supported by the Ford Foundation, the 100-Day Challenge aims to engage local communities by inspiring them to commit to 100-day goals that will have a direct impact on GBVF in their respective districts. A 2021 report by Statistics South Africa, titled Crimes Against Women in South Africa, indicated that one in five women (21%) had experienced physical violence by a partner. According to Maluleke, the country needs efforts from society as a whole to end GBVF. “GBVF was declared a national crisis in 2018. No one in South Africa is unaffected by GBV as it knows no class, race or location,” said Maluleke. According to UNICEF, gender-based violence is the most pervasive yet least visible human rights violation in the world. This is due to the phys-
ical, sexual, mental and economic harm inflicted on a person because of socially ascribed power imbalances between males and females. It also includes the threat of violence, coercion, and deprivation of liberty, whether in public or private. NSP mapping the way forward Maluleka further stated: “The NSP is a road plan developed by all sectors of society. The department has been working very hard with other governmental departments to institutionalise the NSP to ensure that all sectors of society work together to address GBV.” Maluleke believes that though progress has been made in recent years, the ‘pandemic’ continues to escalate. “Progress has been made but we need to work even harder to amplify our collective efforts. Society has normalised violence and it will take collective efforts to cage it. The GBVFNSP 100-Day Challenge provide a module for us to work together,” she said. “We need all stakeholders to take ownership of the process and support local teams to intervene effectively. Through this challenge, our communities must join the fight against GBVF. We also acknowledge the involvement of the private sector on this journey.” Prof Olive Shisana, Special Advisor in the Office of the Presidency, said GBVF makes SA one of the most violent societies. “We, in SA, have decided that we are not going to be paralysed by the rampant nature of GBVF. But, instead, we have decided to develop an emergency response action plan as well as the NSP on GBV to precisely confront the scourge using evidence-based interventions,” she added. Shisana is also the President and CEO of Evidence Based Solutions (Pty) Ltd, a company dedicated to providing health research and technological support to African countries. – Health-e News
NEWS
FRIDAY, MAY 20/ JUNE 2
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FRIDAY, MAY 20/ JUNE 2
TECH
HOW LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP AFRICAN FARMERS
Using technology to enable smallholder farmers to become more resilient is a matter of urgency. Photo by www.afrikatech.com
By Zintle Nkohla
to more advanced and mechanised support, much in the same way that M-Kulima does.
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ase studies across Africa demonstrate the positive impact that access to even the most basic mobile technology can offer smallholder farmers. This underscores the importance of driving inclusive access to digital technology, especially mobile-based, to help the continent’s farmers mitigate the impact of climate change. This assertion is championed by Vodacom, Vodafone, Safaricom, and the United Nations Capital Development Fund in their co-authored report, Towards a Connected Climate. The paper is the third in a six-part series, published as part of Africa. The connected initiative was established to help close digital divides hindering sustainable progress in Africa’s key economic sectors, like agriculture. Using technology to enable smallholder farmers to become more resilient is a matter of urgency, as they comprise such a large part of the farming sector. It is estimated that the continent is home to 250 million smallholder farmers. However, as McKinsey notes, despite Sub-Saharan Africa being home to a quarter of the world’s arable land it only produces 10% of the world’s agricultural output. “Sustainably increasing farming productivity is imperative, and technology has a great role to play as a developmental tool. There is anecdotal evidence of this development in the markets in which Vodacom operates within the continent where smartphone penetration is still low but small-scale farmers are not outpaced,” says Takalani Netshitenzhe, External Affairs Director for Vodacom South Africa. The Impact of Climate Change Across Africa, climate change presents a major threat to agricultural development in the form of extreme weather conditions such as the increased intensity and frequency of droughts, extreme heat, erratic
Sustainably increasing farming productivity is imperative, and technology has a great role to play as a developmental tool. Photo by www.itnewsafrica.com rainfall patterns, heavier storms, and flooding. Farmers in developing markets are typically more vulnerable to these changing weather patterns than farmers in developed nations. The extreme and unpredictable weather conditions cause greater crop volatility, hamper livestock yields, and increase the likelihood of pest and disease outbreaks, which in turn, has a massive impact on the economy. Vodacom says they want to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% by 2025 to contribute to the climate change targets that governments of the markets in which they operate have made under the Paris Agreement on climate change. “There’s no denying that the introduction of mobile-based technology must be complemented by access to low-cost devices, network coverage, and affordable data, especially for people in under-serviced and under-developed areas. To this end, government, the private sector, and civil society need to continue to col-
laborate on connecting underserved, rural areas ensuring that no one is left behind,” adds Netshitenzhe. Making Technology Available to Farmers Vodacom says they have made great strides in heeding this call to action, increasing network coverage across rural areas in its markets, and making affordable handsets available to millions of Africans to date. “Across the continent, where Vodacom operates, examples show how simple mobile-based technology can unlock opportunities, even for farmers using entry-level feature phones, no matter where they are based,” says Netshitenzhe. Inclusion for all also requires tailor-making products and services for each market segment and where smartphone penetration is still low, creating and making available, innovative solutions that are not datadriven to pivot the developmental agenda. For instance, URL and USSD-
based platforms that enable access to financial services and farming opportunities are able to easily connect small-scale farmers to the agricultural value chain. In Tanzania, the M-Kulima mobile platform connects smallholder farmers to a wealth of information and resources via short message service (SMS), unstructured supplementary service data (USSD), and interactive voice response (IVR). M-Kulima provides timely weather forecasts that help farmers plan around climate change and offers important market information to help farmers get the best price for their products. M-Kulima is also integrated with the financial-services platform M-Pesa, to nurture financial inclusion by providing a mobile-phone-based money transfer service and enabling payments and micro-financing. Meanwhile, in Kenya, the end-toend DigiFarm platform – available via USSD or via the app – provides everything from basic farming advice
Encouraging Women to Join Farming In South Africa, Vodacom partnered with UN Women and South African Women in Farming (SAWIF) to establish and drive a Women Farmers Programme aimed at making agriculture more accessible and profitable for women by teaching them how to use apps to connect to potential customers and unlock enormous economic growth. The project has so far trained more than 2000 women and the SAWIF database of farmers is now digitised and is easily accessible by all the women who have received computer literacy and basic business management training. This programme has resulted in testimonials by the beneficiaries of how embracing technology has changed their approach to both technology adoption and farming. Examples like these, highlight how mobile technology unlocks economic opportunities for the farmers but also provides them with the confidence to use technology and assist their learner-children with homework using technology. The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated that digital transformation is key to the developmental agenda and therefore information and communications technology companies need to accelerate the pace to remove barriers to access to communication focusing on both mobile and fixed broadband roll-out, affordable devices, digital literacy, and affordable data. Towards a Connected Climate opens a conversation around challenges in the farming sector. “By pinpointing where farmers are struggling and proposing the path forward on the back of technology, we can make impactful, sustainable changes that will promote climate-smart agriculture on the continent,” Netshitenzhe says. –itnewsafrica.com Network.
YOUR TAKE
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FRIDAY, MAY 20/ JUNE 2
To survive, the ANC has no other option but to explore more innovative and effective ways to arrest its persistent decline. Photo by Garth Stead/News24
BRAND ANC TAKING A THOROUGH BEATING T
he last few weeks have been a rollercoaster for the ANC, with conferences widening schisms within and across its structures. Instead of the build-up that includes the convening of biennial branch general meetings (BBGMs) toward regional and provincial conferences contributing to forging unity and achieving the elusive, oft-punted renewal, we have only witnessed, in horror, meetings disrupted by armed groups or heavily armed private security are seen in and around venues, let alone members being shot at and others losing their lives. If that was not horrendous enough, ANC members have disregarded the hyped “step aside rule” by not only nominating but also electing those who have stepped aside from leadership positions. This move has had the unintended consequence of making a mockery of the “step aside rule”. This ugly turn of events compelled the ANC NEC to amend guidelines in a desperate attempt to slam the breaks on a proverbial horse that has already bolted. The ANC needs to draw hard lessons from the conferences of the recent past, particularly
YOUR TAKE
MOGOMOTSI MOGODIRI the so-called MK All-Inclusive Unity and the Eastern Cape provincial conferences. Failure of delegates to these conferences to engage seriously and meaningfully on substantive issues, including policy, has to raise the alarm. Lamenting these saddening developments, one seasoned cadre of the movement had this to say: “The
ANC is no more… failing to discuss politics makes the ANC equal to what the Nats of apartheid were…at least they knew the target and what to do.” This brutal comparison and conclusion can only point to Brand ANC having floundered and taken a thorough beating – to such an extent that even long-serving members have lost hope in it. A lack of serious policy discussion, if any, has led to the ANC being in an untenable position of confusion and uncertainty. While disappointing, it is nonetheless not surprising that the ANC flip flops on policy, at best or its policies have been re-engineered and repurposed to preserve and entrench whiteness. In short, the prognosis does not look good and all ANC members need to be alarmed by the pathetic state of their organisation. It is a sad state of affairs that needs urgent and decisive attention. The ANC should drop the nauseating pretence. All its conferences discuss nothing of substance except to vote for the one who pays them. We are in a shameful state.
For the ANC to regain some semblance of respectability, credibility and integrity, it will have to drop the irritating pretence. Conferences have become “elective conferences in a true sense of the word. The elective conference is taken literally”. Members and leaders alike go there for elections and other matters, including policy deliberations, take a back seat, if attended to at all. It is mind-boggling that we are persisting with something that only brings grief and contributes to exterminating the ANC. It is Albert Einstein who described insanity as “doing the same thing repeatedly but hoping for different results”. To survive, the ANC has no other option but to explore more innovative and effective ways to arrest its persistent decline. If not, history will either thrust it onto a different but more complex path or get extinct, given the existential crisis that is trapped in. Therefore, a properly-convened national consultative conference (NCC) is the most viable way out of the rut. The NCC will be a platform to, among others, review progress or
lack thereof of the past 28 years, what has led to the ANC plunging into this ever-deepening crisis that threatens its very existence and reimagine the ANC. We will then agree on an implementable plan that will give it a fighting chance of survival in the short-term. In this regard, a proper and honest examination, adaptation, adoption and implementation of the “ANC Turnaround Strategy 2025 - Changing the course of history” is but the starting point. To stubbornly insist on a discredited and destructive template of elective conferences at all cost and any price is not only foolhardy but suicidal. If the leadership knows something we members do not know, they will be obstinate and not listen and continue to disregard the sound of reason that has reached a crescendo. Unfortunately, time is no longer on the ANC’s side. It either changes course or dies, and these elective conferences might be where the last rites are performed. ● Mogomotsi Mogodiri is an ANC member and media specialist
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FRIDAY, MAY 20/ JUNE 2
Editorial Allow media to do its job: report news without fear or favour
O
n Wednesday morning, 11 May, just days from the global Press Freedom Day, the Israeli government, a racist murderous junta, added yet another victim in its mounting record of brutality against the press. Tel Aviv has always been harsh toward Palestinian journalists. Since 1972, 103 Palestinian journalists have been killed, close to 7,000 others injured, while many more were detained and imprisoned by this regime. In the latest attack, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) fired at two Al Jazeera journalists with visible media insignia. Veteran journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, was shot and killed while reporting on a raid of the West Bank city of Jenin. She was wearing a press vest and was standing with other journalists, including Ali al-Samoudi, who is now in a stable condition in hospital. Abu Akleh (51) was a Palestinian-American journalist who worked as a reporter for the Arabic-language channel Al Jazeera for 25 years and was a household name across the Middle East for her decades of reporting in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. Understandably, Al Jazeera is devasted and deeply saddened by this daylight murder of one of its journalists. The Qatarbased Arab news network has called for the prosecution of this blatant murder. Bravely, the network has vowed that this heinous crime, which intends to only prevent the media from conducting their duty, won’t stop them from continuing with their duties in that territory. In its defences, the spineless Israel government has attributed Abu Akleh’s death to Palestinian gunmen, saying she was caught in the crossfire of clashes. Multiple witnesses, however, said it is more likely she was shot by IDF forces than Palestinian. Abu Akleh’s killing fits into a larger pattern of attacks on the press in Palestine and in the systemic violence against Palestinians more broadly. This attack on journalists hits closer to home. The Telegram was founded on 3 May, Media Freedom Day, some 12 months ago. As a South Africa publication, given our history of apartheid, we identify fully with the people of Palestine. We know how forced removals and land dispossessions feels like, we know the mass killings, murder and detention of children, we know the harassment, imprisonment
Shireen Abu Akleh
and murder of journalists. It is this pain that made us to choose 3 May as our founding day. With each publication, we celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom, we defend the media from attacks on their independence and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession like Shireen. As we share our sympathies and deepest condolences with the family of Shereen, we join the world in not only condemning the Israeli government for this brutality against the media, but call for the end to its prosecution. Article 79 of the Geneva Conventions, is unequivocal; “journalists engaged in professional missions in areas of armed conflict are considered civilians. As such, they may not be targeted. They are protected by their civilian status, on the condition that they refrain from any activity that might jeopardise their civilian status and character.” We agree fully with Amnesty International when it says: “There is no possible justification for a system built around the institutionalised and prolonged racist oppression of millions of people. Apartheid has no place in our world, and states which choose to make allowances for Israel will find themselves on the wrong side of history. “Governments who continue to supply Israel with arms and shield it from accountability at the UN are supporting a system of apartheid, undermining the international legal order, and exacerbating the suffering of the Palestinian people. The international community must face up to the reality of Israel’s apartheid, and pursue the many avenues to justice which remain shamefully unexplored.” Let the death of Shireen serve as an inspiration for all nations to continue to fight for free press in Palestine and many other similar territories where freedom of the press and freedom of expression are repressed. Let her passing serve as a reminder that many other countries around the world journalism remains under attack. Media houses are censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained and even murdered like it just happened. Let the soul of Shireen spurn us on to keep initiatives like The Telegram alive, where we deliver news without fear and for the betterment of humanity and its habitat.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
IF THE STATE CANNOT HELP THE POOR IT CANNOT SAVE THE FEW WHO ARE WEALTHY
I
t’s time for the poor to rise up and fight for justice. Our country’s obstinate racial inequality has left the realms of unacceptability. It has now found new glory as a cynosure for the bigoted and maladroit. Last month, timid murmurs here and there greeted Helen Zille’s racist tirade that could make a sewer rat sick in the stomach. She bragged about how “better” the DA-run’s poor were in the Western Cape. “To be poor in Langa in Cape Town is a hundred, probably a thousand times better than to be poor in many of the townships in the rest of the country,” the chauvinistic politician beamed. Repulsing as her comment is, she is unfortunately expressing publicly what others do daily without a flinch. This includes those in the leadership of the democratic government; the people whose sole purpose in the corridors of power is to champion the course of the poor. Not only have they shoved this responsibility to the bottom pile of their to-do list, they show off to the poor in a very cruel manner. Crass conspicuous consumption in the face of untold poverty underscores the arrogance, aloofness and utter indifference by those in power towards the poor. Take the events of May 1 for example. To celebrate Workers’ Day, Cosatu hosted its May Day Rally in Rustenburg and invited President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the event. These workers were on a strike similar to the one staged a decade ago. In August 2012, police mowed down 34 mineworkers at Marikana. Ramaphosa, a then shareholder in that mine was alleged to have had a hand in that mass killing. Never mind that he was cleared of any wrongdoing by a commission of inquiry, to invite him to address such furious workers, [with that background was beyond insensitive] it was just an open display of disdain. To add salt to injury, these workers are demanding a mere R1000 salary increase, but the intransigent employer, Sibanye-Stillwater, wouldn’t budge. Instead, the company found it much easier to dish out an astronomical R300 million pay check to CEO, Neal Froneman. This company produces the bulk of about 80% of the world’s platinum that this country exports. A large percentage of it is used in catalytic converters for the superrich nations to reduce petrol-driven vehicles in their countries to mitigate carbon emissions. Contrast that with the fact that Rustenburg is home to some of the country’s poorest people. Close to 40% of them live below poverty line. Ramaphosa’s hindsight public relations statement notwithstanding, the president’s behaviour, together with that of Cosatu leadership and Sibanye-Stillwater, mirrors Zille’s repugnant utterances to the tilt. It is even more worrying in the case of President Ramaphosa. Without taking anything away from the successful billionaire businessman, his penchant for flaunting wealth through purchases of exotic animals worth millions of rands and ultra-luxurious homes, in a country faced with a sea of poverty is morally abhorrent. He is basically bragging to the poor much the same way as any other Skhothane would. Actually, the president’s behaviour tends to touch a raw nerve where the poor and the homeless are concerned. As Zille brags about Cape Town’s poor, that city has earned global notoriety as a place where to be poor and homeless is a criminal offence. Yet, it is here, where the president is reportedly a proud owner of a massive private home on two plots of prime land that he bought for R30 million. It dwarfs Zuma’s Nkandla by miles.
MY TAKE
MBANGWA XABA All this while close to 13% of the 59 million people he leads are poor, homeless and live in slums. For palatability, the government they have voted into power calls it “informal settlements”. In 1994 we were told that homelessness was an ugly past that this government will not tolerate and will eradicate. When he took over the reins of government, Nelson Mandela declared housing for all an “unbreakable promise.” It is this undertaking that gave birth to the rapid construction of tiny houses built in the first decade of democracy under the government’s broad policy of Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). Hence the nickname “RDP houses,” for the low-income houses. Although the Department of Human Settlements reports that the government has built just over 3 million low-cost houses over the years, there is still a huge backlog thought to run into millions more. On average, it is estimated that some 12 million people are in dire need of houses. Some of these people currently live in sub-standard dwellings in the established townships, but many are in the country’s ever growing informal settlements. It is reckoned that South Africa has about 2 700 such slums for now. In Helen Zille’s ‘flourishing’ Cape Town, the homeless poor are marginalised and kicked out of the streets as nuisance. Cape Town has become a property Mecca for the rich and powerful. The likes of President Ramaphosa and other wealthy foreign nationals. To achieve this status, the Western Cape has steadily, but surely, cultivated an exclusive property oligarchs of mostly white men. The group has appropriated the entire construction
Photo by www.dailymaverick.co.za
industry including the low-cost housing with the advent of the Megacities concept. Worse still, the president is seen as cosying up to these oligarchs. A furore erupted in 2020 when the he launched the Mooikloof Megacity development by Baldwin Properties in what was described as a ‘condescending’ handshake by that company’s CEO Steven Volker to the president. This project alone, is valued at a whopping R84 billion and is one of the 62 Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs). Through the financial institutions, these oligarchs have succeeded in taking over most of the country’s lowand middle-income housing market using the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP). The white supremacy in charge of financial institutions has suffocated black emerging constructors out of business. Most of the black owned construction company’s projects are incomplete or abandoned due to denial of access to funding. Some have resorted to selling their appointment letters. Perhaps the time has arrived for the poor to end this madness. It is time the people rose and demanded their dignity as equal citizens. Nelson Mandela was spot on when he said; “like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.” The people must unite, in their economic forums and other community-based organisations to demand justice. For starters, let the people build their own houses and benefit economically from these projects. They cannot be treated like thugs and referred to as ‘construction mafias’ by the real criminals in posh offices. It is time our society confronted the legacy of apartheid and replaced it with moral uprightness. We must confront this adversity with moral aptitude and fearlessness. It is clear that the current status quo has no interest in the developmental agenda or redress of our oppressive and painful past. Government must, as a matter of urgency, find ways to unlock the provision of housing in a manner that will produce property development entrepreneurs out of the black poor. It must be done on a much larger scale – not only to deliver houses but to unlock the economic spins offs that come with it. The people must find much more rigorous ways to hold government accountable and demand justice. Because, like Mandela said, “overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice.”
OPINION & ANALYSIS
T
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FRIDAY, MAY 20/ JUNE 2
CHEAP LABOUR, THE BEDROCK OF SA’S SUPER-RICH
here is no ultimate song that captures the anguish, pain, frustration and the abuse of black miners better than Hugh Masekela’s iconic Stimela. The song serves as the ultimate reminder to every African that South Africa’s wealth and infrastructure was built with the bare and bleeding hands of black labour from all over southern Africa. They were the abused workforce that gave their all, against their will sometimes, to modernise the country for a few greedy white mining magnates. First released in 1974, for the album, I Am Not Afraid, Stimela became the battle cry against the unjust and evil migrant labour system on the mines. The late Bra Hugh expresses a deep longing for home and masterfully hits the target in evoking pain and empathy for the subjects of Stimela - the young and old black men, the cheap labourers, the people on whose tortured backs white South African wealth was built. The live version of the song from the 1994 album, Hope, naturally launches with haunting bass rhythms and percussions that produce a lifelike imitation of the sound of the coal train on its tracks, ferrying the subjugated to the mines. There is a stunningly beautiful use of cowbells, agitated drums, welling up into an almost forbearing keyboard, and vocals in the song, and Bra Hugh’s trumpet that conjures up visions of the train as passes through the country side in rush to empty its baggage in Johannesburg. The instruments make a slow, but desired withdrawal to the background to make space for Bra Hugh’s lamentations: There is a train that comes from Namibia and Malawi/ There is a train that comes from Zambia and Zimbabwe/ There is a train that comes from Angola and Mozambique/ From Lesotho, from Botswana, from Swaziland/ From all the hinterland of Southern and Central Africa. This train carries young and old, African men who are conscripted to come and work on contract in the golden mineral mines of Johannesburg and its surrounding metropolis, sixteen hours or more a day for almost no pay. Deep, deep, deep down in the belly of the earth/ When they are digging and drilling that shiny mighty evasive stone/ Or when they dish that mishmash-mush food into their iron plates with the iron shank/ Or when they sit in their stinking, funky, filthy flea-ridden barracks and hostels... They think about the loved ones they may never see again. Because they might have already been forcibly removed/ From where they last left them. Or wantonly murdered in the dead of night/ By roving, marauding gangs of no particular origin/ We are told They think about their lands, and their herds/ That were taken away from them/ With the gun, and the bomb, and the teargas, the gatling and the cannon/ And when they hear that Choo-Choo train /A-chugging, and a pumping, and a smoking, and a pushing. A pumping, a crying and a
Marikana Massacre. Photo by EPA
steaming and a chugging and a whooo whooo! / They always cuss, and they curse the coal train/ The coal train that brought them to Johannesburg… There is nothing bluesy about Stimela. It is way more expressive than a blues song. It carries with it something profound, fuming, excruciating, more ancient, of a soul open to the elements, a frayed heart. It tells the story of wounds that can never fully heal. It shall forever stand as a monument to the millions of black men on whose lives rich white capitalists built their empires. The rise of industrialised South Africa was a fiercely brutal one. It was birthed by the discovery of precious minerals, diamond and gold, which, according to Randlords, required cheap labour to do the back-breaking work of extracting the metals from the layers that stretched throughout the Witwatersrand’s rock formations. Even though apartheid was enacted into law in 1948, the seeds for its formation were planted many years earlier. The mining industry, specifically, was responsible for driving the enactment of laws and systems in which increasingly subjugated the country’s black people. At the bidding of the mining industry, consecutive white racist administrations effected processes to concurrently force black men to forsake their families and whatever farming land, for tortuous minework, and also blocked them and their loved ones from taking up permanent residence in urban areas. In a 2014 CJPME Foundation analysis, following observation is made: “The gold mine owners faced three challenges to maximising their profits: the gold deposits, although vast, were deep in the ground, the ore was low-grade, the price of gold was set internationally, so the gold
companies could not simply pass on the costs of extracting and refining vast amounts of ore to consumers. “As mining production rocketed, the owners therefore sought to keep wages down. Given that tax revenue from the mining sector quickly became a significant part of government revenues, the government was receptive to the powerful Chamber of Mines’ urgings that the government ensure a steady supply of cheap labour. “The government did this by taking various steps to create a migrant black labour force with little negotiating power.” It its analysis, the CJPME Foundations posits that deep-rock mining is a capital-intensive industry: “Only a handful of people, eventually referred to as the Randlords, managed to obtain the capital needed to engage in that activity. “The Randlords were all either born in Europe or the sons of people who had been. Cecil Rhodes, Abraham Bailey, Alfred Beit, Ernest Oppenheimer and Joseph Robinson were some of the better known Randlords. “The mining industry’s growth generated massive profits for the Randlords and gave rise to new labour policies in rural and urban areas.” To push more African men to desert their farms in the countryside and work in the mines, the brutal regime forced every African male to pay ‘poll tax’ and a ‘hut tax’ for each hut in their homesteads. This was the story of the black people across south and central Africa where shrewd and cruel colonial masters dispatched laws and armies to help supply the mines with much need cheap labour. The Mines and Works Act of 1911 and further amendments in 1926 ensured that black people were prohibited from performing skilled
labour in the mines by specifying that certificates of competency for skilled trades in the mines could only be issued to whites. These racial laws were expressly intended to thwart any attempt by black workers who had ambitions of growth from competing with white workers for better-paying jobs. A report produced by the Commission of Inquiry into Safety and Health in the Mining Industry chaired by Judge RN Leon in July 1994 stated: “As early as 1890, when the Chamber was formed, mining compounds were established to control labour and the Chamber established recruiting agencies.” At that time, one of the Chamber’s primary functions was stated to be “to reduce native wages to a reasonable level because they wanted to prevent competition”, and find ways and means of recruiting labour. “This led to the establishment of a whole process of migrant labour from all over the sub-continents. By 1889, 100,000 black mineworkers were needed on the mines and, at the time, 60% of the labour came from outside South Africa, mainly from Mozambique.” The horror of the trains that brought millions of Mozambican labourers is well captured in The Night Trains, a book written by Charles van Onselen: “The price exacted from across the African subcontinent for South Africa’s stalled 20th-century industrial revolution is, in human terms, still largely hidden from history. For half a century, up to the mid-1950s, privately operated trains travelled by night between Ressano Garcia, on the Mozambique border, and Booysens station, in Johannesburg. The night trains carried Mozambicans recruited to work in the mines of the booming Witwatersrand. “The up-trains disgorged their human cargo into the maw of the
great Rand mining machine, while the down-trains whisked away the time-expired miners - often ill, broken or insane, and preyed on by con men, petty criminals and corrupt officials. While mine labour was recruited from all over southern Africa, Mozambican migrants made up the largest component, and they paid the highest price.” Regrettably, the mining industry’s murky legacy and its migrant labour system remain untouched in the post-apartheid South Africa. Evidence to this effect is abundant. If you want to get a clearer picture of what post-apartheid has failed to achieve take a cursory glance at the huge sums paid to some chief executives of mining companies. Not so long ago it was reported that Neal Froneman, chief executive of the Sibanye-Stillwater mining company, was paid about R300 million in 2021. This is cringeworthy when you take into account that workers employed by the company went on strike for a mere R1,000 more a month. This disingenuity is a climax of the levels of inequality within mining companies. Reports say the average pay at Sibanye-Stillwater is R14,500 a month. A simple calculation means Froneman earns about 115 times more than the ordinary individuals who work for him. If you were factor and share earnings, he makes almost 2000 times more than the workers. Our memories are also still haunted by massacre of mineworkers at Marikana in 2012. The Marikana Massacre serves as a glaring aide-memoire of the severe susceptibility and mistreatment of black workers. It is also heart-wrenching that mining companies and the state have failed to provide mine workers with decent housing and proper services.
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FRIDAY, MAY 20/ JUNE 2
SHOWBIZ
Blood Sisters has gained global applause as it hits the top 10 rated in over 30 countries across the world. Photo by cdn.vanguardngr.com
BLOOD SISTERS NOT ONLY ENTERTAINS BUT HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANT SOCIAL ISSUES By Dr. Ifeanyi M. Nsofor
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etflix’s first original Nigerian TV series Blood Sisters, is the focus of rave reviews in the country. The mini-series is a story of two best friends, Sarah and Kemi. When Sarah calls off her engagement because of domestic violence, her fiancé Kola strangles her, and Kemi shoots him to save Sarah. The two friends become fugitives. It is a star-studded movie with some of Nigeria’s best actors in it, including the ageless Kate Henshaw, the eloquent Joke Silva, the emotive Gabriel Afolayan and a host of other stars. Most of the rave comments are about the acting and overall production of the series. Without a doubt, the acting is great, the videography is top notch and the plot awe-inspiring. However, what I found most praiseworthy was how this piece focuses on five important social issues. First, gender-based violence is an epidemic in Nigeria and the series brings that reality front and center. Kola was a serial abuser of women,
and his mother even encouraged his behavior. Kola physically abused his two past girlfriends, Princess and Abasiama, as well as Sarah. My stomach curled at the scene where Kola started folding his sleeve. I suspected he was going to hit Sarah. He hit her on the abdomen, a place hidden from sight. I was angry. Men who physically abuse women are fond of hitting them in such hidden parts of the body. Further, Kola’s abuse blinded Princess in one eye and silenced all three women until Sarah called his bluff by calling off their engagement. Nigeria’s 2018 Demographic and National Health Survey shows that females who experienced physical violence since age 15 vary by geopolitical zones, from a high of 46% in the South to a low of 12% in the North West. Sadly, being pregnant does not exempt women from violence. The percentage of women who have experienced violence during pregnancy is highest in the North East (12%) and lowest in the North West (1%). Families are complicit in encouraging violence against women. For example, when Sarah complained to
her mother about Kola’s abuse, her mother asked her, “So you are willing to risk everything because of one slap?” Second, drug addiction and mental health are often misunderstood while victims suffer abuse. Timeyin, Kola’s sister, is portrayed as a drug addict, someone not to be trusted and who is incapable of being rehabilitated. However, as the movie progresses, one sees that the loss of her father (who was killed by her mother Uduak) and how her mother made her feel guilty about his death, were triggers for her drug addiction. Instead of seeking real help for her, her family took her to a church for rehabilitation. Churches are not certified to treat drug addiction and other mental health challenges. These actions by Timeyin’s family are common in Nigeria. In 2018, I was a co-lead of the Mental Health in Nigeria Survey of more than 5,300 respondents in every state in Nigeria. The result of this perception, attitudes and practice survey showed that 84% of respondents believe drug abuse is the top cause of mental health disease, 70% believe mental health disease means when one starts running around naked;
18% would take someone with a mental health disease to a prayer house; 4% would lock up the person, and 2% would beat the disease out of the person. The series shows how Timeyin needed professional help, which she did not get, and everything got worse. Timeyin shot her brother, sister-in-law and possibly her mother too. Third, neglect of urban poor in urban slums is a huge inequity, the series illustrates. To escape capture, Sarah and Kemi run to Makoko, one of the largest low-income communities in Lagos State. Half of its population lives on water and half on land. Makoko is visible as one drives on the 3rd mainland bridge from Lagos mainland to Lagos Island. Malaria, diarrhea and cough are common illnesses in Makoko. The residents dispose of their waste in the water and have poor access to clean water. Residents have fewer opportunities in life. They live under a constant threat of their homes being demolished by the government. Fourth, proliferation of illegal organ sales is not unheard of. The World Health Organization
estimates that globally, 10,000 kidneys are traded on the black market every year. Sarah and Kemi’s escape leads them into the hands of a false doctor and his female companion. He turns out to be a harvester of body organs. He drugs Sarah and stabs Kemi so he could harvest their organs - most likely kidneys going by the organs already in a cold box in his makeshift theater. Fifth, the series shows how corrupt police officers may delay justice. The police officers at checkpoints all collected bribes from Madam Uduak to circumvent the course of justice by ensuring that investigations focused on only Sarah and Kemi as suspects despite other evidence that emerged. They both stalled the investigations into Kola as a physical abuser of Sarah that would have proved Sarah and Kemi’s innocence. It would have given credence to Kemi’s action of protecting her friend from Kola’s murderous clutch. Blood Sisters is meant to entertain. However, let us not forget that entertainment can be a vehicle that amplifies important social issues. – allafrica.com
SHOWBIZ
15
FRIDAY, MAY 20/ JUNE 2
THE MISSING PIECES
By Mathijs Cazemier
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pril 7, 2022, marked 28 years since the start of the Rwandan genocide. In Petit Pays (Small Country), Gaël Faye provides a new outlook on the events, with special attention to how the ethnic conflict spilled into the Burundian civil war. Written from the perspective of a young French-Rwandan boy living in Burundi, the book challenges misconceptions about the period leading to the tragedy and sheds light on the complex psychological dimensions of the genocide. Between melancholy, terror, and disillusion, Petit Pays is a ground-breaking and eye-opening take on one of the darkest pages of African history, one that is often misunderstood in the West. In the Francophone world, Faye is known as a recording artist. His homonymous 2011 song, Petit Pays, was accompanied by a colourful music video staged in the luxuriant hills of Burundi. Released five years prior to the book, the song acts as a sequel to Gaby’s story and describes his struggle to heal from his traumatic experiences in Burundi, with writing as his only escape from the past. In the song, Faye evokes how genocides breed a complex combination of anger and culpability among survivors like Gaby, who often find themselves stuck between “suicide and murder.” Writing is a safe and neutral way to face this trauma and externalize the psychological intricacies of the genocide in a world where a Manichaean interpretation of historical events is the norm. A cinematic interpretation of the novel was released in 2020. The movie, co-directed by Eric Barbier, was critically acclaimed, and it constitutes the final facet of Faye’s multimodal work, Petit Pays. The novel is at the core of this project. Despite its fictional nature, the main protagonist, an 11-year-old boy nicknamed Gaby (short for Gabriel), is blatantly inspired by Faye’s own childhood. Gaby lives in Kinanira, a wealthy expatriate neighbourhood in Bujumbura, with his father, the family cook Prothé, the driver Innocent, and his friends, with whom he enjoys eating mangos in an abandoned Volkswagen Kombi.
Petit Pays (Small Country), Gaël Faye provides a new outlook on the events that spilled over to Burundi. The first chapters of the book are imbued with joy and melancholy, as the reader is taken through the emotions and sensations of this child whose only preoccupations are explorations and treasure hunts. From discovering the wonders of Lake Tanganyika to visiting abandoned palm oil factories, Gaby’s childhood, contrasting with the daily hardships of Burundians, is portrayed as a colourful anomaly amid the country’s rampant poverty. However, Gaby’s bubble is shortlived; it eventually bursts after his parents’ breakup and the coup that overthrew newly-elected president Melchior Ndadaye on October 21, 1993. Often overshadowed by the events in Rwanda, the Burundian civil war also opposed a Hutu majority against a Tutsi minority (of which Gaby’s mother is a member). In the second half of the novel, Gaby is faced with new realities. In a political context where, as an ethnic Tutsi, he is forced to take sides, Gaby is struck by disillusionment, mistrust, and doubt. As ethnic hatred starts to permeate public discourse, Gaby’s attitude towards his relatives,
friends, and acquaintances shifts. By gradually politicizing Gaby throughout the novel, Faye stands against the misconception that the conflict between Hutus and Tutsis was just an out-of-the-blue occurrence. Instead, the author sheds light on the vast operation of divisive propaganda and the complex psychological manipulation perpetrated by the genocide’s multiple actors, which ranged from governments to civil society. Western historians, political scientists, and organisations like Human Rights Watch have often claimed that the genocide could have been avoided if international actors had undertaken tougher action. While this is certainly true, the genocide did not occur in a vacuum, and grasping the magnitude of the events was, according to Faye, a complex task at the time. The novel helps readers grasp this complexity: its first-person narrative style allows for an immersive experience in Gaby’s physical and psychological environment. As readers, we become empathetic to all of Gaby’s endeavours – as if we had been indoctrinated ourselves – even when he is forced to murder a Hutu man in the final pages of the novel. Still, Faye avoids excessive use of melodramatic language and makes the conscious choice to craft a realistic novel. According to him, the genocide is an event that literature would fail to describe in its entirety. Gaby’s understanding of the genocide is thus very limited and confined to his own personal experiences – and, as a result, so is the reader’s. African historical events like the Rwandan genocide and the Burundian civil war are too often recounted through the lens of the Western world. The remembrance of these events is therefore tainted with a European bias, while new voices and interpretations have struggled to make it to the surface. History is much more than just a linear, one-sided timeline, and new narratives like Gaby’s have often been sidelined on the basis of race, gender, or nationality. This is a mistake, because works like Petit Pays allow us to rethink history and challenge mainstream ways of remembering. A collective effort must be made to further empower these new narratives, as they are crucial missing pieces of this puzzle, we call history. – africasacountry.com
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FRIDAY, MAY 20/ JUNE 2
LABOUR MATTERS
TAKE THE MIDDLE MAN/WOMAN OUT OF THE TRANSPORTATION EQUATION! T his column is meant to share my general observations about the commodity transportation industry, with specific reference to the mining sector of the industry. That said, I shall keep the doors open for us to engage further on how we can improve the situation, going forward. Consider this for a moment, with your hard-earned savings, you have managed to acquire a good, used truck and trailer combo to the tune of, shall we say, R1.2 million. Those who are familiar with these types of transactions should be in a position to deduce the monthly costs associated with servicing this transition. It doesn’t end there. In addition to the cost of servicing this debt, add driver salary, which can range from anything between R10,000 to R20,000, as well as all other employee-related costs, a tracking device, maintenance/service costs, truckand-trailer insurance, goods-in-transit insurance, the annual roadworthy tests, including licensing and registration, business registration costs, consumables such as tyres, etc. My guess is that in your mind, you are starting to get a sense of the relentless costs that an owner/ leaser (transporter) has to deal with on a monthly basis. Naturally, upon purchasing/leasing a truck, an owner starts to look for work for his truck The first obstacle standing in the way will be trying to secure a direct contract with whichever entity that the owner wishes to operate as part of the often-complex organisational dynamic. I will confine my discussion to the mining sector, seeing that I have semblance of familiarity with the industry. Now, whether by design or default, this space is heavily populated with brokers and middle-men/ women. These are men and women that a transporter needs to go through before they can be appointed to render services to the mine as service
UMSEBENZI TEBOHO MOKOENA
providers. The net result is that a transporter ends up, by design, having to sign a contract with a broker. Now, the pertinent question arises: what is the role of a broker in this entire milieu? Well, we know, indeed, as we have experienced, that a broker merely presents a contract which is heavily skewed in their favour of the transporter. Let us sum up the role of a broker. In essence, a broker is there to communicate the combined requirements (including that of the mine) to the transporter, in terms of, among others, the number of loads required per week, various loading and offloading destinations, the processing of invoices, as well as other related administrative matters on hand. Beyond that, a broker plays no role at all. Do you remember the litany of costs that I outlined above? Well, a broker plays no part in assisting to discharge any of those costs. This falls on the lap of the transporter. He must settle costs arising from all those line items. In simple terms, a transporter assumes the responsibility, as well as the risks that come with
Photo by bizbolts.co.za transporting precious commodities on behalf on the mine. A broker merely assumes the role of an officious bystander in the entire process, nothing more, nothing less. A broker is not involved, whatsoever, in the day-to-day running of a trucking operation. All of that falls squarely on the shoulder of the transporter. Cynically, one may even be tempted to say that the role of a broker is akin to that of the South American Cotton Fields Overseer. They are merely there to ensure that, come what may, the required number loads are delivered, regardless of how unrealistic those targets may be. What is missing from their arsenal is the proverbial whip. The latter has duly been replaced by a seemingly ironclad contract which is pulled out at the slightest provocation, should a transporter be deemed to have stepped out of line. History is littered with scores of up-and-coming trucking enterprises that have had to fold, simply because their said trucking enterprises could not meet the unrelenting and impos-
sible demands. By now, you may have guessed where I am going with this, if not, let me spell it out to you: the commodity transportation business does not require middle-men/ women or brokers. Regardless of how much you try to shed light of the so-called role of brokers/middle-men/women in the commodity transportation value chain, it remains as opaque as ever. The value chain, I assert, can easily be managed by the mine logistics functionary and the transporter, together with his or her driver. I have also observed that most, if not all, of these brokers/middle-men/ women do not have trucks of their own. Why? One would have assumed, given their proximity to the towers of power within the mining industry, they would have jumped at the opportunity to have their own fleet of trucks. The answer lies at the prohibitive costs of running a trucking concern. It is far more profitable for these men and women to rather be overseers.
A typical example: a mine might offer a rate of R1,400 per ton in the Northern Cape to Port Elizabeth. On a 34-ton side truck, this would amount to R47,600 per single trip. Diesel per litre comes out at R22,800 on a 1,200L tank. That is if we assume that diesel retails at R19 per litre. That leaves a transporter with R24,800. By the way, we have not taken out incidentals such as tyres repairs, mechanical breakdowns, toll fees, all of which can wipe out whatever profit that a transporter might has pencilled down. The above figures are illustrative, Google search indicates that 50PPM, retails at R21,51 per litre. This clearly alters the above scenario. In addition, the above rate is not a given. I will tell you why. This rate would be possible if the transporter was to engage directly with the mine, to the exclusion of the broker. But alas, that is not the world we live in. In reality, a transporter is usually offered a “generous” R780 per ton. If you work it out on a 34-ton truck, it works out to R26,520. Factor in the diesel cost at R19 per litre on a 1,200 litre tank (which amounts to R22,800), then a transporter is left with R3,720 per trip. Remember, all other costs are still to be factored in. The irony is that a broker gets to pocket in excess of R21,080 for a largely minuscule role, if any at all. The above figures are illustrative and may prompt some of us to whip out our calculators and deal with the figures. That will not assist, I am afraid. We need to deal with principle. To do that, I will nail my colours to the mast, and state, without any equivocation, that brokers/ middle-men and women in the commodity space are latter day labour brokers that. Should we give brokers a onceoff commission for securing a transporter a contract? Some may even refer to that, in colloquial terms, as a finder’s fee. I have no qualms with that. Therefore, I say, yes, we should consider that as viable option. But a rolling monthly commission is not only unjustified, it is unethical and immoral, given the immense and relentless financial burden that transporters face on a daily basis, while brokers smile all the way to the bank. We have a high employment rate in this country, and can we honestly say we sleep well at night knowing that brokers are essentially fleecing those who have poured the last resources into owning these trucks, as a last-gasp effort to keep the proverbial wolf from the door?
MOTORING
17
FRIDAY, MAY 20/ JUNE 2
NEW BAIC B40 OOZES LUXURY AND STYLE!
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brief history of the BAIC motor group. The company was originally founded in 1958 in the Chinese capital Beijing as Beijing Automobile Works “Baw Motors”. In that era, most Chinese firms were producing Russian products under their own branding. Their most successful product was the soviet GAZ21 known in China as Dongfanghong BJ70. This company is owned by the Beijing Municipal government. It is currently sitting in fifth position in China as one of the most successful car manufacturers. I have been eagerly waiting for BAIC BJ80, and made contact with all known distributers of this brand across the country. Some distributers from Ekurhuleni invited me to sample the next best model I was looking for: the BAIC B40. From behind, it has that Jeep Wrangler look. The same kind of spare wheel and removable black roof. The same protruding Jeep wheel arches. Getting closer, you are greeted by the name BAIC B40 written in silver chrome and you’d think your eyes are playing tricks on you. There is a famous isiXhosa phrase used by folks from the Eastern Cape that goes: “izinto zabelungu ziyafana” (loosely translated, it means, European mass-produced stuff looks alike). This model, indeed, has all the DNA of a Grand Cherokee. The boot space is enormous, even with all the seats up. Almost identical side steps, and the front the grill sways more toward the Wrangler. Opening the door, you feel that premium brand good quality. The handle and the door feel rugged and closes with that land cruiser solid thud.
RIDE ON DUMI XABA
Ground clearance is superb. From miles away you can see that this is a bush Junky. Inside, you are greeted by the leather and chrome steering wheel, engraved with BJ40. I must admit, I was totally caught by surprise by the level of quality I found myself in. Premium leather stitching in white. The cockpit and the infotainment will give you a feel that you are sitting in a million plus premium brand car. The round air vents are more like the BAIC brand insignia. Sitting position is good and there is enough cockpit space for someone who weighs a ton. The pedals are crafted in beautiful chrome. The visibility outside and around is great. Huge windows ensure you can easily crawl through any terrain without your vision obscured. The quality of the plastic used is good and the colour tones are not
offensive, either. The model I had, came with keyless start. When you press that Start button the 10-inch infotainment and the digital cockpit comes alive. The model I had is a 2L automatic guise that churns 160 kw. Like in any 2L, don’t expect a growl, a gentle purr will do. I honestly thought the 2L petrol version was inadequate for this kind of application, but I was wrong. It’s quite eager
and the box responds well. But it tends to be a gluttonous when the foot goes on the accelerator. You get treated to luxury like leather seats, climate control, keyless start, 17-inch chrome wheels, reverse camera, central lock, multi-function steering wheel, traction control, cruise control, fog lights, Bluetooth, xenon lights and electric windows and mirrors.
Specs for the BAIC 2.0T City Hunter: Fuel Type: Turbo Petrol Cylinder layout and quantity: i4 Tank Capacity: 75 Power: 160KW Torque: 320Nm CO2 Emission: 250g/km All this luxury will cost you around R580,000
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FRIDAY, MAY 20/ JUNE 2
FEATURES
CHEF GEE CREATES PERFECTION WITH HER POTS
Mgoboza is a chef at Bertha House in Mowbray, Cape Town. Photo by foodformzansi.co.za
safety precautions, cleaning as you go, and utilising five basic sauces. In 2017, she was given the opportunity to pursue a career as a chef. She began a six-month course at Infinity Culinary Training in the Cape Town CBD in July of that year to master basic cooking skills. “After completing the six-month course, I applied for a seasonal job at Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel, and from there I received recognition from chef Dion Vengatass,” she recalls. “Dion recognised my eagerness to learn and used it to groom me, which is when I signed a permanent contract as a commis chef until the Covid-19 saga.”
When Chef Nondyebo Mgoboza was laid off at the start of the hard lockdown, she refused to give up on her culinary dream. Instead, it awakened a fire in her to learn more about her craft and today the flame is burning stronger than ever. By Vateka Halile
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or as long as she could remember, Nondyebo Mgoboza from Jozanashoek, a village in Sterkspruit in the Eastern Cape, wanted to be a chef. And even when tough times hit, she faced it head-on and realised her dream. Like many, the global pandemic gave Mgoboza time to pause, reflect and ask herself: What is next? “When Covid-19 arrived in South Africa in 2020 and lockdown was implemented, I saw a need to think beyond the box,” she says. After being laid off when the pandemic hit, she refused to lie down and used the time to acquire new skills. “I guess I am not the only one who has trained her intellect to seek out skills that will empower us to build generational wealth,” she says. Today Mgoboza, fondly known as Chef Gee, is a chef at Bertha House in Mowbray. She also caters and bakes cakes as a side hustle. A love for food and music Mgoboza loved being active and even belonged to a women’s football club in her community alongside her sister Mandisa. Practice would often run late, and when they would return, they would discover that their mother, Nonkosomzi, had only cooked for herself and her youngest sister, Nosipho. This sparked her food interest and prompted her to get her hands dirty and prioritise cooking meals. “I didn’t like being yelled at, which is why I practised to perfection with
the pots,” she says. “I loved browsing catalogues, so hospitality courses always piqued my interest.” Mgoboza tells foodformzansi.co.za that she always wanted to cook in a professional kitchen but had an equal passion for radio. “I loved listening to radio, and people like Tsidi Jokwana Monteiro of Umhlobo Wenene FM inspired me. I imagined that by this time I would be broadcasting on a national radio station.” While she worked as radio presenter for Lathitha community radio station, her food love continued to grow, but there were insufficient funds to attend culinary school. At the age of 21, she began working as a cashier in a retail establishment in Sterkspruit and took on the responsibility of assisting at home. She felt compelled to do so after her late father, Vuyisile, died in 2004. She believed it was about time she aided her mother in caring for her two sisters. “My mother was a pre-school teacher, and her salary was not enough to keep us afloat. I promised her that I would do whatever it took to meet her halfway. And since the agony of losing her spouse when we were still young was too much to bear, I did just that.” An opportunity opens Mgoboza moved to Cape Town to seek greener pastures. Her first job as a cook was at Primi-Piatti at the Waterfront in 2015. Here she was taught basic culinary skills such as cutting, making your own stocks, kneading dough, kitchen
Mgoboza is also known as Chef Gee, upskilled herself with a cake baking and decoration course. Photo by foodformzansi.co.za
When one door closes Mgoboza was laid off in 2020 after the first hard lockdown hit Mzansi. Not one to sit idle, she soon enrolled for course at the Divas Baking School in Bloemfontein where she learned how to bake and decorate confectionary. “We were only taught how to create cakes at work and in my previous training course, but not how to decorate them,” she says. “I registered at a cake decoration school so that I could make cakes, muffins, biscuits, cupcakes, and other baking crafts.” Thinking outside of the box did not stop and end with cakes. Mgoboza also did a short in permaculture. She says that Covid-19 awakened a fire in her, and now she has a better understanding of food security, climate change, and how trade with other countries can affect the whole country’s economy. “I always wanted to do this but I was always too busy with work.” She believes that knowing how to cook qualifies you to start your own business. “Go for it, travel the world, as there is so much to do with food,” she says. Take responsibility for your own future, she adds. “I now define myself, and I can speak my truth no matter what.” – foodformzansi.co.za
SPORT
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FRIDAY, MAY 20/ JUNE 2
Former Safa CEO Dennis Mumble accused Jordaan of using of Safa’s legal division to disrupt other candidates’ campaigns. Photo by Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Story Continued from Page 20 “We [my generation] played against England, we played against France, we played against Germany, but through leadership, there’s only one thing that we were told in the dressing room, ‘the difference is the national anthem but they are like you guys’. And we went out and dug deep because he said we’re not representing your friends or yourselves but the nation. “So, if the nation is in crisis, what’s supposed to be done? Change is needed. Change is needed because he said it, may his soul rest in peace. So, if it happens that there should be change and a new structure takes over, please, do not disrespect or disregard the efforts of the custodians of football in this country. “Why can’t we use our own? The likes of Bra Shakes, Screamer Shabalala, Clive Barker, Jomo Sono and the list is endless, serve in this committee for you to guide anyone who comes in. “We have a current coach [Hugo Broos] whom I respect, why is it that he can’t meet his colleagues in the PSL? Because there’s no leadership, there’s no cohesion. Why did Clive manage to talk to all the coaches, why did Bra Shakes manage to talk to all the coaches when he was a coach? “We went to the DRC, we had to live for five days with Coke and bread because we couldn’t eat their food. Is that not sacrifice?” asked Khumalo. “So, why can’t we be part of the structures? Why can’t the likes of Shakes be part of the structure? How do we expect football to be better in South Africa if people who walked the path can’t be part of it? “How are you, in your right frame of mind, lambast a legend that is being respected in England and still honoured, if we don’t do that in South Africa… but what we do, we chop and criticise them because they know how to do it, when to do it and why to do it.
“So, I’m saying with the change, let’s consider our ancestors that made this game to be what it is today,” added Khumalo. Siyabonga Nomvethe, the PSL’s alltime leading goal-scorer insisted that former players are the best for taking the game forward, as football administrators The Bafana legend believes South Africa and other African countries should entrust former players with leading their football associations. The former Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates striker has hailed the election of Samuel Eto’o as Cameroon Football Federation president and is impressed with how the retired striker is running the organisation. Eto’o has made some bold decisions, including appointing his former Cameroon teammate Rigobert Song as the Indomitable Lions’ permanent head coach. “It is a big thing and we appreciate that happening, especially because they were big players in their time,” Nomvethe told The Citizen. “They played at the top level and made their names.” Safa is currently led by a former politician in Jordaan and there had been calls in the past for Bafana legend, Lucas Radebe, to run for the presidency. Nomvethe, who is currently serving as AmaZulu FC assistant coach, strongly believes that retired footballers should be running football associations in order for them to apply the knowledge they gained during their playing days. “It is important for people like them to get into leadership positions in their local associations and impart the knowledge they have acquired,” the former Udinese and Salernitana star added. “It brings us back to the fact that former players are the best for taking our game forward. Their progress is inspiring us that we need to take ownership of our football.” – idiskitimes. co.za www.iol.co.za and goal.com
Is the end of the game nearing for Danny Jordaan?
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EX-PLAYERS WELL-POSITIONED TO TAKE LOCAL DISKI FORWARD
By Staff Reporters
T
rouble, like a witch’s cauldron, is boiling over at the South African Football Association (Safa). The rumblings that have played out in public are nothing short of a revolt against its president, Danny Jordaan. His fight for survival might come to naught following accusations by some of his colleagues of corrupting the organisation and causing it to lose its envisioned focal point, direction and integrity. Some of those who made these accusations have either been suspended or removed altogether from the association. As the pre-election excessively emotional and dramatic behaviour gains momentum, Safa’s former CEO Dennis Mumble came out with guns blazing and blasted Jordaan. He accused Jordaan of an unfailing use of Safa’s legal division to disrupt other candidates’ campaigns for the position of the organisation’s presidency. Mumble’s accusations come after Safa vice-president Ria Ledwaba was forced to put on hold her presidency campaign launch after getting threats of expulsion or suspension. “During an election campaign, people have to express their criticism on the current holder of the position and elements of his leadership that they feel have failed but also provide views of where they’d like to take the organisation,” mumble told Newzroom Afrika. “In 2018, when Ace Ncobo ran for the position of Safa president and I was still Safa CEO, along with those
There is an urgent need to investigate a fundamental restructuring of South African football.
who worked under me, were pressured by Jordaan to process about 31 charges against Ace Ncobo because he was not happy with what Ace and his supporters had to say.” Former soccer stars take a shot at Safa Bafana Bafana and Kaizer Chiefs legend Doctor Khumalo has lambasted the regression of the national
team under the current leadership at Safa. Khumalo, who won the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations, is widely considered one of the nation’s greatest-ever players. And reflecting on the most successful period of South African football, he asked why the methods of success during the golden era were deviated from. Speaking at what was meant to be the press conference for
Doctor Khumalo has lambasted the regression of the national team under the current leadership at Safa. Photo by Trevor Kunene/Gallo Images/Daily Sun
Ledwada to accept her nomination, Khumalo waxed lyrical about the legendary local figures who painted the colourful era of South African football – and whom he feels have been cast aside. While addressing a wide range of topics, from media being blocked from having access to the national team as in the past, he asked the question why nothing has been built
since their early success after readmission to Fifa back in 1992. “We have, for those who don’t understand… in South Africa, all our accolades, all that we have achieved was through our own coaches, Bra Shakes [Mashaba], remember the first coach to qualify the Under-23s for the Olympics,” Khumalo said in his passionate speech. “Clive Barker, 1996, and he took us where? To the World Cup. Jomo Sono, 2002, Trott Moloto… And what did we do? We only suppressed Pitso [Mosimane] because we thought he was a failure. “But it took Senegal eight years to believe in Cisse and today he is the champion. Why can’t we believe in our own? Is it because of poor leadership? Then, there should be a change. This is a country of champions, we cannot afford to be saying, Fish, Lucas, Doctor wow ’96. It’s 26 years ago, nothing has happened.” Khumalo said the goalposts have been shifted in terms of what is deemed as success for the current national team and leadership, insinuating that the standards have dropped and a lack of results is down to poor leadership where Safa and the Premier Soccer League (PSL) do not work in tandem. “We only strive not to win, now to qualify, this is our hope as a country. He used to say to us, they might be playing in bigger leagues, they might be earning a lot of money – the world knows them. But what I saw when we played France was embarrassing,” he continued.
Story Continues on Page 19
Siyabonga Nomvethe insists that former players are the best for taking the game forward as football administrators. Photo by www.goal.com